Boozing for Books

Want to support Estonian literature? Buy booze. Finns traveling to Estonia for cheap alcohol are helping to support Estonian cultural and literary activities because part of the liquor tax funds these programs. Maybe we could have that tax over here, too?

“In real life, we are often so bound by social convention, but at the same time we all have secret, inexplicable aspects of ourselves. The parts that nobody else sees. In fiction, we are not bound by social convention, so the things that mystify and unsettle are allowed to rise to the surface.” SaloninterviewsLaura van den Berg about her new novel, Find Me, which we covered in our Great 2015 Book Preview.

Just when you thought I wouldn’t make you sad about Alan Rickman again, here he is starring in a film adaptation of one of Samuel Beckett’s short plays. In case you missed it last time, these recordings of Rickman reading from Shakespeare, Proust, and Thomas Hardy will surely generate some feelings.

“You could call Zero K a grand summation of DeLillo’s career themes and prose stylings. You could also call it recycling.” Tony TulathimuttereviewsDon DeLillo’s “techno-prophetic novel,” Zero K. To revisit DeLillo’s prior work, check out David Rice’sreview of The Angel Esmeralda.

“The idea came to Mr. Mallory one night as he sat on his couch watching an old favorite, Hitchcock’s Rear Window. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a lamp switch on in the apartment across the street.” Published under a pseudonym, former executive editor Daniel Mallory‘s debut novel The Woman in the Window was acquired and published by his own imprint. Pair with: an essay about the emergence of “reimagined thrillers” that create characters out of setting.